Description

Tsunami offers a varied tour of the left side of Waimea's central wall. The leftmost of the popular 5.12's (the others being Whip Tide, Aquarius, Techno, and Big Kahuna), Tsunami sees a fair amount of traffic.

Also typical of the climbs in this area, the start of Tsunami may prove troublesome. It must be the way the lower band of schist formed; all of the holds seem to point the wrong way. Stick clip the first bolt and crank hard to get on the wall. Shorter climbers might have to jump for the first hold. After the initial wall is breached, easy climbing leads to the base of the two foot wide roof.

The roof actually points down. The underclings underneath the roof are positive enough, but is hard to escape the feeling that the edge if the roof is cutting into your chest. A deft use of a heelhook on a sloping edge out right allows passage over the roof and onto the hanging steep slab. This slab, ala Aquarius, has some pretty good footholds, so it is possible to rest.

From the steep slab, head left to the arete itself. A considerable redpoint crux guards the chains. Top out on the mini ledge and clip the chains just to the left of Techno's anchors.

Great route! I found it made a difference at the crux to make sure I was on my toes out near the edge of the slabby foothold, rather than using a heelhook. It made it a lot easier to rock over from the crimp match to get the reach. It made it so it wasn't really the crux for me any more.

Does this climb usually have fixed draws on it? I was at Waimea today and saw someone clean all the draws off it except for the one hanging over the roof. If it normally has fixed draws, why the clean? If it doesn't, what makes it different from the other 12s in the area?

i had fixed draws on it last year and between people giving me crap about it and an expressed desire for a voluntary clean up of routes that don't really need fixed draws i took them down... since then they have been fixed off and on, i assume while people have been projecting it... how is it different? its not... however the only bolt that is hard to load a draw on is the one in the roof and it sounds like that one was left up... pretty easy to run up Flying Hawaiian or Techno and fix Tsunami on the way down too if you want them pre hung...

Hard sequences with great rests - what more could you want! I found an alternative start by coming in from Big K, maybe V4. Rating? I was convinced it was 12d until I sent, now I'm not so sure. I used the heel hook way right on the shelf where there's a divot - worked every time. Superb climb!